After the operator of the Dresden theater Wechselbad der Gefuhle (“rollercoaster of emotions’) ceased operations in May 2014, TW.O GmbH, the agency that specialises in theatre, culture and live marketing from the German Saxon capital, took over the business of the theatre that is now known as the Boulevard Theater Dresden. After a four-month renovation, operations in the listed building started again in September 2014.
In addition to the complete redesign of the auditorium, there were also heavy investments in the modernisation of the stage and the entire theatre technology. Dutch manufacturer Alcons Audio was used for its pro-ribbon solutions for theatre sound reinforcement.
“After many advisory discussions with sound engineers and other competent professionals, we organised test setups with different systems. The impressive performance of the Alcons systems and the professionalism of the Event-net GmbH made it an easy decision,” says Dan Becker, one of the directors of TW.O GmbH.
As a result, Event-Net from Halle (Saale) installed two arrays of six LR7 micro-pro-ribbon line-array, each consisting of three 90° and three 120° systems. As a low frequency support, two 15-inch subwoofers BF151 were used. All systems are driven by two ALC Sentinel3 four-channel Amplified Loudspeaker Controllers.
For in-fill and / or monitor application, TS3 systems are also available. All Alcons systems are characterised by uncompressed, high-output and uncoloured reproduction; at the same time offering extraordinary speech intelligibility, precise pattern control and throw. These properties convinced Dresdner theatre makers Olaf Becker and Marten Ernst of the operating company TW.O.
Consequently, the sound of the large room was completed in February 2015 with an LR7 centre cluster and also in the future, for the small room and mobile outdoor theatre operations, Alcons systems will be purchased.
Kay Schottner, managing director of technical service Event-Net, is confident: “With the Alcons system we have used the right professional tool at the right place.”
The Boulevard Theater Dresden brings a versatile offering to the stage, which brings special demands on the sound reinforcement. Olaf Becker explains: “Since our programme is very varied and diverse with spoken theater, musicals, concerts and singing, it was necessary and important to find a system that could handle this wide variety of applications, without any weaknesses. With the Alcons systems we can experience this quality every day now and please our visitors. Personally, I appreciate the unobtrusive design and thereby unexpectedly powerful performance. The speech intelligibility is excellent, beautifully “in the face’ and with ample reserves. Visiting artists notice the quality of the sound – recently the well-known jazz singer Curtis Stigers stated: ‘Nice theatre and excellent sound.'”
